Orders, Decorations and Medals

A fine Second World War D.F.M. group of five awarded to Warrant Officer P. Henser, Royal Air Force, who was decorated for his gallantry as a Navigator in Lancasters of No. 514 Squadron - ‘his crew experienced many more encounters with enemy night fighters than the average crew does, three of which developed into combats which resulted in confirmed victories’

Distinguished Flying Medal, G.VI.R. (657320 F./Sgt. P. Henser, R.A.F.); 1939-45 Star; Air Crew Europe Star; Defence and War Medals, generally extremely fine (5) £1700-1900

D.F.M. London Gazette 13 October 1944. The original recommendation states:

‘Flight Sergeant Henser has taken part in 29 operational sorties as Navigator in Lancaster aircraft, including attacks on many important and well defended targets in Germany and occupied territory. During his tour the crew with which he flew experienced many more encounters with enemy night fighters than the average crew does, three of these encounters developing into combats which resulted in confirmed victories.

In spite of these unnerving experiences Flight Sergeant Henser’s work in the air has been exemplary. Never allowing the accuracy of his calculations to be affected by what was occurring outside the aircraft, with the result that he consistently navigated his aircraft to the target and back to base by the correct route and at the correct time.

Flight Sergeant Henser is recommended for the award of the Distinguished Flying Medal in recognition of his good work as an operational Navigator in heavy bomber aircraft.’

Philip Henser, a native of Edmonton, commenced his operational career as a Navigator in No. 514 Squadron, a Lancaster unit operating out of Waterbeach, in March 1944, when he completed a sortie to Le Mans on the night of the 7th-8th. Frankfurt, Berlin and Essen followed in quick succession, so, too, Bomber Command’s disastrous attack on Nuremburg on the last night of the month, when Henser’s pilot made it back to the U.K., but was compelled to land at Tangmere as a result of shortage of fuel. Here, then, the most costly raid of the War, when 95 aircraft were downed with a loss of several hundred aircrew, six of them Lancasters from 514 Squadron - in later years, Henser was contacted by Martin Middlebrook during the latter’s research project for his history of the raid.

In April, with the exception of a brace of trips to France, it was German targets of the heavily defended kind that occupied 514’s operational agenda - hence trips to Cologne, Dusseldorf, Essen, Friedrichshaven and Karlsruhe, the latter trip witnessing a combat with an enemy night fighter, the first of five such encounters in Henser’s tour. Meanwhile, the month of May saw 514 complete several trips to French targets, a similar agenda occupying the Squadron’s activities in June, when he flew no less than 11 sorties, two of them of a daylight nature and several against enemy rocket installations - on the eve of D-Day itself his aircraft was briefed to attack the enemy gun batteries at Ouistreham.

And it was immediately following D-Day, as 514 Squadron continued to act in support of the Allied landings, that Henser and his crew experienced a spate of combats with enemy night fighters - thus engagements fought during strikes against Lisieux on the night of 6-7 June, Dreux on the night of the 10th-11th and Le Havre on the night of the 14th-15th, actions that led to immediate D.F.Ms being awarded to Henser’s pilot, Flight Sergeant C. J. Johnson, and Mid-Upper and Rear-Gunners, Flight Sergeants J. Poad and R. A. Dymott, the recommendation for the latter stating:

‘On the night of 6 June 1944, he shared in the destruction of an Me. 110 in the target area during an attack on Lisieux. The fighter flew very near to his aircraft and was closely pursued by a Mosquito. By acting instantaneously, Flight Sergeant Dymott was able to engage the fighter as it passed and saw it burst into flames and dive towards the ground. He also saw the Mosquito engage the fighter with cannon, so a half share was claimed. On the night of 10 June 1944, the aircraft in which he was flying was attacked by an Me. 410 during the bombing run of an attack on Dreux. The fighter was engaged by Flight Sergeant Dymott and the Mid-Upper Gunner and was seen to crash in flames. Their own aircraft sustained no damage at all as a result of the accurate combat manoeuvre directions passed by him and the Mid-Upper Gunner to the pilot. This combat was witnessed by several other crews in the Squadron. On the night of 14 June 1944, immediately after bombing Le Havre, his aircraft was attacked by an Me. 110. Flight Sergeant Dymott and the Mid-Upper Gunner engaged the fighter and saw it dive down out of control and on fire. Their own aircraft sustained no damage. This combat was also witnessed by other crews in the Squadron. On the same night, his aircraft was again attacked by a fighter which broke off its attack and flew away as soon as Flight Sergeant Dymott and the Mid-Upper Gunner opened fire on it. Their own aircraft sustained no damage.’

These ‘unnerving experiences’ under his belt, Henser rounded-off his tour of operations in a daylight attack against enemy troops in Villers Bocage on 30 June and was recommended for his own D.F.M. Having then attended an Operational Training Unit, and been advanced to Warrant Officer in January 1945, he volunteered for a second tour of duty, and was posted to No. 227 Squadron, another Lancaster unit, operating out of Balderton. And with 227 he flew on four more sorties in March-April, the last of them a strike against Flensburg on 23rd of the latter month.

Sold with a quantity of original documentation, including Buckingham Palace investiture letter, dated 10 October 1945, three wartime photographs and a local newspaper cutting, together with his Navigator’s brevet and Sergeant’s stripes, and an extensive file of research, including photocopies of the operational entries from his Flying Log Book.